Peter+Kakatsos

**PETER KAKATSOS**
13/10/11 Voice is important both for actors and the audience, when the actor can project his voice to his whole audience... And engage his audience to what he is saying...he has done a "good job" in terms of presenting his story. Voice also is what I believe to be one of the many important factors to a good performance... Voice aids the audience in understanding what the actor is presenting to them, There is nothing worse than having a confused and angry audience watching your performance.
 * Why is voice important?**

Stanisvlaski used emotion memory to get his actors to play a specific part or character. For example Mr Duhigg used the example of: If someone was to play a killer... He didn't necessarily have to be a killer to play the part, stanisvlaski used to tap into the actors memory to a time when they were at a "low point" and used that past feeling of them wanting to kill someone, to get them to play the role. He wanted his actors to BE the role that was given to them.
 * Emotion memory pg. 41, how does it work in acting? Objectives / Obstacles**

19/10/11 Act 1, Scene 1: What are the given circumstances?Refer to the detail from the text: It is summer of 1962 it is the time where fear is a rising due to the Cuban missile crisis, it is on a driving range and the children Lewis and Dulchie are sunburnt, Dulchie is really intent on Lewis helping her peeling off her sunburn, Lewis is not intent on doing it for her. Lewis then agrees and concentrates to do her detailed commands. Lewis is intent on letting Dulchie know that there are aliens and they exsist. Lewis try's to get Dulchie to understand that there is nothing wrong with Singapore street residents. TIME: -When is it set? What decade? Time of year? How does this affect the characters? It is set in the summer of 1962, this is the time where everyone was in a. Panic about the whole Cuban missle crisis, fear of the nuclear bombs being set off. This affects the characters because they are in fear... But not the children characters of Lewis and Dulchie. The season of summer also affects the characters as they are sunburnt. -Where is it set? How does the physical environment affect the characters? The opening scene is set in a shooting range this causes the chldren to hide behind a bunker and causes them to be careful. -Personal circumstances of the characters? Lewis is 14 years old and lives in a housing commission, the year is 1962 Dulchie is 14 years old and lives in a housing commission,the year is 1962, she is the close friend of Lewis
 * SUMMER OF THE ALIENS**

20/10/11 - Lewis is 14 years old and lives in a housing commission north of Melbourne, the year is 1962. He is half Scottish, half Irish. It is a hot summers day. - Dulcie is the close friend of Lewis who is a girl... She seems to be interested in him quite a lot.... But he is sort of drawn away from those feelings in other encounters that they have had together that suggest her feelings.
 * Lewis' given circumstances**

- To ignore Dulcie, and not help her with her sunburn. - To help Dulcie with her demand of peeling the sunburn off SLOWLY - To prove to Dulchie that aliens exsist. - To get Dulchie off him - to prove that there is nothing wrong with Singapore street.
 * Lewis' objectives**

27/10/11 I had completely missed the intention of the exercise... It was meant to be: -Developing your character - Doing it in a public environment - Acting like you would in a given set of circumstances WITH YOUR CHARACTER. I had acted as if it was theatre with a character... Using surreal circumstances... example: - Telling people who I was (would not be done in real life). - Kicking down airport chairs... Now, this WOULD NOT BE DONE IN REAL LIFE. Although I had done badly, I have thought about what I would do if given another chance and I would not kick down chairs, I would not make it so blatantly obvious who I was.
 * The Airport scene- Pre Maccas**

2/11/11
 * "On the Waterfront" Character Objectives and how they changed throughout**
 * Super Objectives:**
 * Terry:** To talk to Edie and get her to like him, same as how much he likes her.
 * Edie:** To find out who killed her brother and to move away from Terry and go home.

Edie is trying to find out who killed her brother this is her Super Objective. She questions Terry who fancies her and makes his objective to keep her there to talk to her, then a hobo comes over and talks to Edie, but Terry wants her to himself and sends the bum away. They get re-acquainted, her objective is to now leave and she then drops her glove... He puts it back on his own hand to keep her there and to stop her from leaving early, the objective changes when he gives her, her glove. He asks her "Do you remember me?" She responds by saying "How could i forget". His objectives now change to asking her out on a date. Her objectives changes to saying no to Terry, which she responds to with "Why?" His objectives, now in an angered state change to forgetting about it all, and to take her home.

__//**CHARACTER PROFILE:**//__ []

Sonny Bill Williams, He was not named after a particular family member, his parents' name are John and Lee. He was born in New Zealand but he is of Samoan descent. No idea... Assuming somewhere in New Zealand, Near his Rugby Union club which is based in Hamilton, New Zealand 130 km, South of Auckland. He is a Leo ( August 3rd), He is Generation Y (1985) Training, Healthy lifestyle and overall fitness. Drinking is definatley a problem, has been for the past few years. Over-womanizing and no club loyalty, Money chasing is stopping him from being loyal. To go to Maccas and have a quiet one after training, away from the main road, so as to not draw attention to himself as much as possible (He will not be eating) and when in Maccas to not draw attention to himself, but rather to wait for transport to come and get him, but keeping with the character... If he is spoken to, he will not ignore the question or statement.
 * ** NAME: How is the name significant for your character? Was he named after someone? What ethnicity? What does the name mean?**
 * ** ADDRESS: Be specific. There is a big difference between Sylvania and Sylvania Waters, for instance.**
 * ** DATE OF BIRTH : What generation? X? Y? What star sign? This will give you some characteristics you might want to develop.**
 * ** RELATIONSHIPS : With key figures in your life- parents? Friends? Enemies?** He has a good relationship with his Girlfriend. However as spotted in the "Footy Show" interview, he states that moving back to New Zealand was NOT hindered by his family, this may show a little apprehensiveness to his family.
 * ** GOOD HABITS : Will help you find the key to physicalisation.**
 * ** BAD HABITS : Ditto.**
 * ** LIKES : Include music, food, sporting preferences, hobbies, what would constitute a perfect day for your character?** Obviously, sporting preferences are Rugby and Rugby League, but he is also impartial to Boxing. Food is nothing that would be unhealthy for his training, apart from the occasional Maccas... His hobbies are going to the beach, playing Rugby and going to the Gym. A perfect day would be... Winning a Rugby World Cup...
 * ** DISLIKES : As above, except what would constitute the worst day?** Losing a game. He is very work-orientated, its what he does and shows his dedication.
 * ** WHAT 5 ESSENTIAL ITEMS WOULD YOUR CHARACTER TAKE ON A DESERTED ISLAND? **
 * A Girl
 * A football
 * A hammock
 * An Esky full of Beer
 * Phone
 * ** WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER'S SUPER-OBJECTIVE? **

=
At the Maccas excursion, I will have earphones in. I will keep to myself, but if someone approaches me and talks, I will not ignore them. This is the style of Sonny Bill that I have seen through my research. (Although I did differently in the Airport scene...)===== = media type="custom" key="11193036" = This Video in a way shows what his objective was (Go back to NZ to play for the All Blacks)... And how family wasn't a factor to him going back to New Zealand from France. This also shows a little bit of his personality and how he carries himself so well after going back to the code that he turned his back on. I can use these aspects in my McDonald's trip, I can be confident when speaking to people, which was a trait shown in this scene.

14/11/11 - To poke the stick in the hole, because she is angry with where she is - To get Brian to go over and talk to her - To use anything she can to keep Lewis and Brian there, so as to not be lonely - To rush over as they are leaving to use desperate techniques to make them stay (taking off jumper) - Go back to be as angry as she was before, when she yells "Bugger, Shit, Piss, Fuck" it now has meaning and is no longer a word that she says freely. - To be noticed and to be part of their group, by moving closer and closer
 * Beatrice's Super Objectives (Act 2, Scene 7)**

14/11/11 We performed our performance of Act 2, Scene 7, which we rehearsed many times, so many in fact that I would expect it to be better. It just seemed that on performance day, we lost a lot of our objectives, my fellow actors Nathaniel and Myles lost some lines and it lost some of the impact of the scene. Although, luckily for us, this was only in the first run through. The second run through we had a better understanding of our objectives and was better received, we used the objectives that are above. And some new ones. Such as: walking in front of Lewis and Brian to stop them from leaving, it was strong and physical, since going in front of someone actually makes them notice you. So although our first run through was not our strong point, our second run through redeemed us.
 * Performance Evaluation**

16/11/11 -2 combinations of 4 will be assigned Act 3, Scene 3. You will be assigned to either Brian, Lewis, Duclie or Bev. You are to rehearse and perform the scene, except this time: 1. You will summarize the journey of the character for the whole play (super objective) 2. In rehearsal, you will run through focusing on a major goal each time, swap characters, change entrances/exits, perform it in the value opposite to the scene (e.g. Hate-love), eat and drink though the scene and perform drills that focus on different "business" in the scene.
 * Characterization-Taking it further**

17/11/11 - When he enters, although he is meant to be meeting Dulcie, his objectives are to look for UFO's. - She speaks to him a lot. i.e: "You like me dressed as a boy?" She is trying to get his attention and stray him away from his objective, but he doesn't budge, he continues to track for UFO's. - His objectives side track a little bit, when he discovers his brother like-figure, Brian was seen having sex with his sister Bev, down by the creek. He is angry and although he says to Dulcie "I don't care how you look, I just want to look for UFO's!" He is visibly sidetracked, so at this point, he literally wants to kill Brian. - When he see's Brian he lets all his rage out on him. By Punching him! - His new objective is to retreat and take in what he did to his best mate. - His objective then is to try and restore his relationship with his sister... By not telling their mother. Even though it is eating him up inside and is making him feel "dirty"
 * Act 3: Scene 3**
 * Lewis' Objectives:**

23/11/11 Today was quite the eye-opener, After seeing the first group get given useful feedback and then used it to an extent, i decided that it would be good, when we got up since i had a lot of ideas ect. So I got up and we had to speed run through the seen. We were stopped many times by Mr Duhigg, during a monologue, I was being chased around stage! But after the performance, I realised that the purpose of it was to react quicker to given circumstances and to bring out the strong points and moments in the play. The strongest point for me was when, Lewis punched Brian, and Lewis stood over him. This was a powerful moment and will be developed in future. Next stage to perfect our performance is that of pauses.
 * Discoveries in today's run-through with speed of Act 3: Scene 3:**

24/11/11 We went through pauses today in our scene of Summer of the Aliens, the pauses were great for some scenes! And will be used in our performance; e.g: The scene with Dulcie, there were a lot of pauses and it really brought out the objectives of the characters, when Dulcie is chasing Lewis around stage he is pausing to try and get away from her... Vise versa for Dulcie. It also suits the scene with Bev and Brian having sex by the creek, because Lewis is so shocked by what was going on so he naturally paused. I also learn't NOT TO BACK AWAY in performance... These elements in the rehearsals that we have done will not be forgotten and will be put in our end result.
 * Discoveries in today's run through with pauses: Act 3: Scene 3:**

28/11/11 The Maccas trip as a whole was very successful. My character that I was portraying in particular (Sonny Bill Williams) was, to my belief, rather successful. The way I walked to Maccas showed that he was a person who didn't like the spotlight much, he had a hoodie on and he didnt take the direct route on the way to Maccas. (walked through the park). My walk was inconspicuous, its intent was, to not get noticed. My choice of clothing also did this, it was not meant to draw attention to myself. Throughout the walk, my concentration levels were high and intense the whole way through, every action thought out... Every head movement (for example), the consequences and responses were thought out. When we got to Maccas I made a concious descision to walk to the back of the room, where it was not very crowded, sit next to blinds and look out the window, so as to not be noticed that much (every descision thought out). When Mr Duhigg came to talk to me I kept with my character... Although I might not want to speak with him, I decided to be polite and speak to him. I had the same principle walking back. I was happy with my final product and belived that, I did well. I saw many other classmates, I saw Sam acting very obnoxious, and taking up room and I was convinced of him being someone else, as the guys in the class chose contrasting characters from themselves.
 * Maccas trip - Evaluation**

10/5/12 Stylised movement, to convey a "report"
 * Verbatim Theatre:**
 * Plays are constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about a particular event or topic.
 * Naturalistic
 * Because the plays are constructed from precise words, it moves the theater away from entertainment to a form of a "report".
 * Lack of precise costume and set

14/5/12
 * Verbatim Theatre- Ways to stage it: Run Rabbit Ran Act 1: Scene**
 * 1) How do you stage a scene with so many characters? No time for costume changes? You must have distinct idiosyncrasies between each of the characters so that the audience recognises which character you are or understands that you are a new character.
 * 2) How do you come to grips with playing multiple characters? As stated above you must go through the stanisvlaski breakdown of characters and make sure you understand each character you are performing to make it clear to your audience who you are.
 * 3) How do you create tension/pace/excitement? In terms of our Performances in RRR you must engage your audience with some form of movement or "flashbacks" as was discussed in class earlier such as when a character is talking have another actor in the background performing out what the speaking actor is saying, so the audience is not watching actors just "run through the lines" and you must also have interesting stage directions, such as where the actors are placed- don't have them in strsight lines for example, it is not engaging; instead, have the actors placed in interesting formations Ect.
 * 4) How do you convey time, space and information? In any verbatim theatre piece time is already conveyed to you, because it speaks of specific events. Space, you must use a lot of the space, set it up like a news report, but not bore your audience at the same time, so you must have a clear balance of interesting choices and projected and an enthusiastic voice. Information is displayed naturally as the play goes on, but it must be presented interestingly.

14/5/12 Nicholas is a Greek, so he would have Greek voice. Roger is an Australian, so they would both act most likely as their ethnicities allow them too. Nicholas is a "Dr" with a PhD, so he is intelligent, the way he speaks enhances this fact, no pauses ect. Whilst Roger is a blind man who spends his life in hospital, so without a job and this disability, he would not be as sophisticated as Nicholas, this is why he speaks in pauses ect. They both want the Same thing; Souths back in the competition.
 * Stanisvlaski Character Breakdown: (Nicholas Pappas and Roger Harvey)-**

14/6/12
 * The Laramie Project- My Verbatim Scene:**

**1. THE DIRECTOR'S CONCEPT.** My directors concept for my scene in The Laramie Project is to make it turn into an interrogation scene, much like the layout of a court. So I had it set out as a court, with the narrator in the backstage right and the defendant (Henderson) being interrogated by the lawyer (Police officer) in front stage left. The layout design is diagonal upon viewing from the audiences perspective. This is obvious with the stage directions and locations given to my characters, this design also makes Henderson feel secluded from every other character, the judge is quite a distance away from him, and it is only Henderson and the interrogator in that large space of stage, this goes along well with the eccentricities of the character of Russell Henderson, he as a person is very secluded from society because of his actions against Matthew Shepherd.

**2. MY SET.** My set as with most Verbatim theatre pieces is simplistic, there is minimal set and or lighting. The only props I have is the speaking podium for the judge and a block for Henderson, in doing this I am keeping with the tradition of verbatim theatre styles and beliefs.

**3. DRAMATIC FORMS AND PERFORMANCE STYLES** Performance styles are simple, the judge character is a narrator type speaker and he is monotone, he has no real character. The interrogator or judge is simpathetic at first when speaking with Russell but when Russell reveals his intentions and actions of that night he becomes increasingly agitated. Russell as a character is a very unintelligent character, I had my actor speaking in a "low IQ" voice which was difficult because of the intelligent nature of that particular actor.

**4. REHEARSAL IDEAS** In order to get my actor that plays Henderson to seem really flustered and as if he's being "pushed around" Mrs Miller had the actor that plays the interrogator chase the actor playing Henderson, while speaking their lines whilst being chased, to help recreate the feelings of Henderson at the time. Apart from this the script is rather simplistic and short.

**5. ANNOTATED SCRIPT AND BASIC BLOCKING** No annotated script. The only blocking is the interrogator pacing around the block of Henderson; who sits very still. The narrator is still behind the podium also.


 * UPDATED SCENE DIRECTING: **